Last week, the international athletics federation World Athletics (WA) awarded China yet another prestigious competition, when it decided at its meeting that the World Athletics Championships will also be held in 2027 in Beijing. Beijing ended up being the only applicant when Rome withdrew its application at the last minute.
China’s human rights situation has been widely discussed in recent years, for example in connection with the 2022 Winter Olympics. China violates human rights in, for example, Hong Kong, Tibet and the Uighur region of Xinjiang. It is one of the most controlled countries in the world, where certain websites and social media services are also blocked. The work of journalists was also disrupted.
President of World Athletics (WA), the international association of athletics Sebastian Cohen according to the decision on Beijing’s hosting of the competition was unanimous.
In connection with the World Indoor Games in Glasgow, Urheilu asked the athletics boss whether China’s human rights situation is a problem in Coe’s opinion.
– China is a really important ally for us, they invest a lot in our sport. We take a lot of different things into account and evaluate everything carefully. We are very pleased that the games will be held in Beijing. The decision was unanimous, Coe answered the question.
The last time Beijing served as the competition organizer of the prestigious athletics championships was in 2015.
In China, the prestigious athletics competitions will be held before the Beijing 2027 Games, as the summer 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which were postponed due to the corona virus, will be held in Nanjing next year. The Games have been moved three times: first to 2021, then to 2023 and finally to March 2025.
The race organizers promise that social media will work
Finnish member of the board of the International Athletics Federation Antti Pihlakoski led the WA delegation that toured potential host cities for the Games. Originally, in addition to Beijing and Rome, Istanbul, Dubai and New Delhi participated in the competition, of which the last three jumped out on the way.
– When we started to have discussions further, New Delhi jumped into the queue, which points to the 2029 World Cup. We didn’t want to start demanding Istanbul to build a new stadium when they have little else to build after the earthquakes. In September, Dubai should have an air-conditioned stadium in terms of temperature, and we didn’t want another Doha, Pihlakoski opens.
Rome, on the other hand, retreated with chalk lines.
– They withdrew from the search on the last night when they did not receive the necessary guarantee regarding the arrangements. The guarantee amount they were looking for from the state was 86 million euros. On the other hand, all the papers were in order in Beijing. As experienced organizers, they knew exactly what they were doing.
Pihlakoski praises Beijing’s conditions, the stadium and nearby accommodations.
– Beijing was superior as a package. Financially, the offer was excellent, they really wanted the games and offered financial good so much that we can use that money to help member organizations, make it easier for athletes to travel and pay athletes better cash prizes.
Pihlakoski admits that the problems with Beijing’s applications are related to human rights issues.
– They were busy. We went through all the names that are related to the organization of the games, and we did not find a single name that was on the list of human rights monitoring organizations. In matters concerning human rights, you always wonder which is better: to expose the country and the city to a public discussion about human rights issues or, as it were, to miss an opportunity by not going to such a city with the Games.
The race organizers have promised that social media services will work in event areas like in Europe.
– The competition organizers have guaranteed that all event areas, i.e. stadiums, competition hotels, training fields and media work spaces, as well as the hotels next to them, have completely free access to social media. They have put their names on a legally valid paper, where sanctions have also been agreed upon, if these are not implemented.
Satisfied with five applicants
India, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, which were involved in the race, have also not improved in human rights matters.
India is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women. The country has committed serious human rights violations, for example in the border region of Kashmir. In December, India was accused of spying on well-known journalists with an Israeli spy program. The international human rights organization Amnesty suspended its operations in the country in 2020 when its bank accounts were frozen. According to Amnesty, the harassment was due to the fact that the organization demanded transparency from the government and steps to investigate human rights violations.
The United Arab Emirates uses the kafala system common to Middle Eastern countries, which is also considered modern-day slave labor. In certain cases, conservative sharia law is observed in the country, which includes homosexuality as a crime. The publication of messages insulting the country’s leadership and authorities is prohibited, and people’s behavior is monitored. The United Arab Emirates has also been considered guilty of illegally detaining people. In 2018, the Princess of Dubai By Latifa Al Maktoum the escape attempt made international headlines when Latifa, who lived under the strict control of her father, tried to escape abroad to a Finnish Tiina Jauhiainen with assistance. The journey ended with a violent raid by Indian special forces. In the case of the United Arab Emirates, energy consumption and climate issues have also hit the headlines.
According to Amnesty, there are more journalists imprisoned in Turkey than anywhere else in the world: harassment and arrests of opposition politicians and activists are also commonplace. Criticism of those in power is prohibited in Turkey, for example the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defamation is easily sued. Domestic violence and femicides are a significant problem in the country, and in 2021 the country withdrew from, among other things, the agreement to combat violence against women.
Pihlakoski is not worried that only authoritarian states would be interested in the Games in the future.
– We were really pleased that we had five applicants, some of them strongly identified as democracy. I believe that we have our own ways to ensure that wherever we go at any time, we work to make the world a better place after the Games, even in the countries where we compete.
The athletics influencer hopes that the benefits brought by prestigious competitions would be seen more widely in Finland as well. Pihlakoski praised the world indoor championships in Glasgow, Scotland, which ended on Sunday.
– Human rights issues are fine here and the country and the city have invested quite a lot in the Games. I hope that in Finland too, it would become clear that the local community and the country benefit from the Games, not just financially. Many countries see the value of the Games as a publisher of the country’s image.